Eating. Drinking. Cooking. @ Puerto Rico.

January 25, 2009

La Sandwichera in Caguas

I'm currently teaching a class at a Cooking School in Caguas. During the 6 hour class we have a 1 hour break that comes around sometime after lunch. I went out for some grub, but the spots around the school were either out of their lunch specials or closing. I was actually on the hunt for a Subway (LOVE IT!) the students had told me was nearby, but I couldn't find it. I saw LA SANDWICHERA (The Sandwich Place) so I decided I might as well eat there.

Walking in felt weird given the dining area is HUGE. And empty. For a minute I wondered if this place was even open. It was/is some kind of Food Court, but only one food place was open. Way in the back was a tiny counter. I walkes up and asked if they had sandwiches. They had a hot food steam table with some scary looking pieces of unidentifiable meat and starch, which I was not going to even consider. The girl starts to read out typical sandwiches and hot food platters and I settled on a BLT. Simple enough, right? Right.

I asked if it came with mayo and she said yes. The girls yells out "Un BLT. De tocineta!" (A BLT. A Bacon one.) to the cook standing in front of the grill. Okay. A bacon BLT. Should be interesting. It came with fries and a drink. Free-refills were available, which I didn't know and ended up paying for a large cup. DOH! I hate when people don't offer free-refills. I used to at the restaurant I managed in NYC and would encourage it. People loved it. Why not, it's good customer service. I just nickel and diming folks. Anyway...

I paid and waited for my sandwich. And waited. And waited. Mind you, I had been the ONLY customer since I walked in and waited for my sandwich. So I waited some more. TEN (10) minutes later the cook sees me and says , "BLT!" I go up and pick up this:

It came in Pan de Agua (crusty PR bread, similar to Cuban Bread), a little bit of lettuce and tomatoes, and no mayo. Of course. Would've preferred the traditional toasted sliced bread and a tiny bit of mayo, but why be picky? The fries were there. Almost invisible, but they were there. And a soda. So there you have it. But not bad for right under $5.00 including tax!

The sandwich was not bad, but not great. Too much bread, hardly any lettuce and tomatoes, but the bacon amount was more than fine. And it was crispy bacon, a miracle at times, so not all was lost. Service was not horrible, but lacking any enthusiasm or warmness. I'm not making any plans to return, given I'd like to see what else is out there in the cute town of Caguas, but overall it wasn't bad. It was cheap and plentiful (didn't finish it), so it is a good bang for your buck. If on a budget and in the smack middle of town in Caguas, go for it. Number and address are on the receipt. ¡Buen provecho!

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Some would have wished for more stuff inside the bread than just more bread, just like you've said. Oh, and you're right about 'em free refills. That's definitely good customer service. It kinda makes feel as if they want you to be fully satisfied with what you paid for.